ISIL is worse than Al-Qaeda. ISIL is no longer simply a terrorist organization. It is now a full-blown army seeking to establish a self-governing state through the Tigris and Euphrates valley in what is now Syria and Iraq.

Recently, 40,000 Kurds fled given the option by the Islamic State to either convert, pay a tax, die, or leave. It came amid an ultimatum by the State that it now controls “more important areas which were controlled by the [Kurdish] peshmerga [forces] and the secular militias.”

The declaration of the Islamic State is a supposed return to a Caliphate, a time when all Muslims lived together under one political system. In fact, the largest and most powerful Caliphate was based in Syria– right in Damascus.

They are trying to establish a state, and these types of revenues are important for the state’s formation because it makes up a significant chunk of their revenue. They can take over eastern Syria without oil revenue, but seizing these types of fields [like Shaar] are part of an ongoing plan to develop their own economic system.

What do you think about the Islamic State controlling more resources and territory than any other extremist organization? Is it time for the US to intervene in some manner- either through aid or direct support? Or should the US sit out the conflict and let the opposing parties fight it out?